Drug-sniffing dog joins sheriff's office - Portales News-Tribune

The newest deputy at the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office is going to help keep drugs off the county streets and highways, according to Chief Deputy Malin Parker.

Fram, a black Labrador retriever, just returned from two weeks of training in Spring Branch, Texas, with his new handler, Deputy Sonny Wilcox.

Wilcox said he and his canine companion went through on-site training, in which they searched for narcotics planted on specific sites, and off-site training.

“Everybody picks their own dog and you have to be certified with that dog,” Wilcox said. “It was a wild time but it was a good experience.”

Wilcox said the dog’s training is based off a toy with a ball attached to a rope and the dog receives the toy only when he does what he is supposed to do.

“Their whole drive is that tiny ball,” Wilcox said. “Everything I tell him to do, he does and it’s all because of that little ball ‘cause he knows he gets it if he does it right.”

Wilcox said the dog has already helped make three narcotics arrests in his first week.

Parker said the county sheriff’s office has been in need of a narcotics canine since they retired their last canine deputy about eight months ago.

He said U.S. 70, which runs through Roosevelt County, also runs through counties which are High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA).

“We’re a HIDTA bordering county, so it makes it likely that drugs can come through here,” Parker said. “It’s a resource (the dog) we haven’t had provided to us in the past and it was very needed.”

Parker said the dog was purchased for the law enforcement office by the district attorney’s office with a government grant.

“At the time, the Roosevelt County office was the only agency in our area that was without a canine, so we offered them assistance to bring an additional resource to the county with the goal of taking down drug traffickers and violent suspects,” District Attorney Matt Chandler said. “It’s a win-win for both law enforcement and the community.”

Parker said the dog will be also be used for narcotic searches outside the county.

“It’s just going to give us an added resource with narcotics detection and apprehending violent persons,” Parker said. “It’s just a great resource to have.”

Wilcox said he went into law enforcement with the intention of being a canine handler.

“I’m really grateful they gave us money to buy him,” Wilcox said. “Hopefully, Fram and I can pay them back ten-fold by taking some drug traffickers off the street.”

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Parenting Anew, at a Puppy's Beck and Call - New York Times

When the dog owner turned I immediately recognized him as Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff to President Clinton and soon-to-be-named director of the C.I.A. and, later, secretary of defense. Here was one of the world’s most powerful men, and yet in the battle between man and canine, well, let’s just say he could have used reinforcements.

That scene came to mind as I read Jill Abramson’s “Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout.” Ms. Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, is a powerful journalist few would dream of discounting. She built her career as a hard-nosed investigative reporter with the ability, by her own account, to intimidate colleagues and sources alike. And yet, when it comes to her dogs, she pleads guilty to being a hopeless pushover.

She is such a pushover that as she and her husband, Henry, drive to meet their new dog, he summarily demotes Ms. Abramson, “replacing me as pack leader because I am neither calm nor assertive.”

The author confesses that her husband’s assessment was “harsh but fair,” considering how horribly she had spoiled her first dog, a West Highland terrier named Buddy, cooking him gourmet meals of rosemary-dusted chicken and wild Alaskan sockeye salmon and forgiving him for all sorts of doggie infractions.

“The Puppy Diaries,” based on a popular online column Ms. Abramson wrote for The Times from July 2009 to May 2010, is her account of the first year with a beautiful but predictably high-energy golden retriever. The book is a worthy addition to the crowded so-called dogoir genre, primarily for the candid glimpse it offers into the softer, personal — yes, even cuddly — side of one of the world’s most influential opinion shapers.

It is no secret that the best dog books are not about the dog at all but rather about the powerful ways in which canines and people intersect. They explore the human condition and how dogs can enrich and elevate it.

At its core, “The Puppy Diaries” is not Scout’s story so much as the tale of an empty-nester couple seeking meaning and fulfillment in the postparenting age. Even with her high-powered career, Ms. Abramson confesses to an emptiness since the departure of her two grown children. She and Henry appear to have a strong marriage, and yet something is missing.

As the book opens Ms. Abramson is enveloped by a deep depression after two life-altering events: the death of her beloved Buddy and a near-fatal accident in which Ms. Abramson was run over by a truck while walking near Times Square, requiring months of rehabilitation.

Into this “severe case of midlife blues” arrived Scout. For Ms. Abramson, a puppy was the perfect remedy.

“Besides looking for any excuse to inhale that irresistible puppy smell, I felt a reflexive urge to cover the top of Scout’s soft head with kisses,” she writes. Ms. Abramson makes up “lullabies with silly lyrics” to coax Scout to sleep. She marvels at Scout’s “sultry, flirtatious look” and compares her to “a canine version of Veronica Lake, down to her blond, silky fur.”

Ms. Abramson is beyond smitten. No wonder she has a hard time saying no.

She and Henry pour themselves into their four-legged child with all the neurotic attentiveness of new parents. They dote, they obsess, they rearrange work schedules for puppy kindergarten. They consult trainers and run up hefty bills at Petco, even as they roll their eyes at the Manhattan pampered-pet set and the boutique businesses (doggie hospice, anyone?) that serve them.

They become devotees of the clicker training approach to behavior modification, which relies exclusively on positive reinforcement. Scout figures out pretty quickly that this means she can strain against her leash with impunity, to her owners’ dismay.

For all the couple’s angst over Scout’s transgressions, the dog is typical of her breed, eager to please and with an easy disposition. Like all puppies, she chews shoes and table legs, urinates on the bed, jumps on guests and steals food. But I can attest, as the owner of a retriever widely regarded as the world’s worst dog, that Scout’s antics are mere child’s play. Seasoned dog owners might grow impatient with the couple’s hand-wringing over such ho-hum misdeeds.

True to her reporter roots, Ms. Abramson absorbs everything she can find on dog training and interviews numerous experts (all of whom, not surprisingly, return her calls). Despite this, “The Puppy Diaries” is not a how-to book. It is amply researched and written with informed confidence, but the advice offered is strictly cursory.

Nor is it a humor book, even though rambunctious Scout provided plenty of opportunities. For example, one day on a walk through the couple’s TriBeCa neighborhood, Scout cannot resist the aromas wafting from a sidewalk cafe — and leaps onto a table and nearly into the meals of two diners, dragging Ms. Abramson along for the ride. On another occasion Scout destroys Henry’s eyeglasses on a day when he is stressed about a work deadline, leaving him prostrate on the floor, sobbing in utter defeat. All good fodder for comic relief, yet Ms. Abramson plays it straight, without a glint of humor. Part of me wished she had forgotten about her serious-journalist credentials and had a little more fun with these parts of the storytelling.

Ms. Abramson writes with intelligence and grace and never descends into the saccharine, steering clear of sappy land mines even as she celebrates the simple joys a dog can bring. Some readers will be looking for evidence to brand her elitist, but Ms. Abramson’s voice is bighearted and surprisingly down to earth as she and her husband forge a stronger bond with Scout at their side.

Dog lovers will enjoy this account of one couple’s efforts to raise a well-behaved pet. More important, “The Puppy Diaries” provides a fascinating insight into the private sensibilities of The Times’s top editor, the final arbiter of what ends up on the front page.

John Grogan is the author of “Marley & Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog” and the memoir “The Longest Trip Home.”

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The dog whisperer - Gisborne Herald

A FORMER Gisborne woman with more than 35 years’ experience breeding, training and working farm dogs will be here for two training days next month.

Anna Holland spent three of her earliest years shepherding here at Manutuke and Matawai.

The farmer that employed her at Manutuke told her that she would have to go if he found a boy.

“He had been looking for a boy to help on the farm, couldn’t find one — I was staying with his sister helping on their farm — they talked him into taking me on. He said to me “Anna, if I find a boy, you’ll have to go”.

“I stayed for 2 years and he had no hesitation in replacing me with another girl.”

Anna says she was very fortunate in her introduction to farm dogs since she was born and raised in the heart of Auckland.

An uncle’s farm in Wairarapa was where she learned to ride a horse and saw first-hand how a well-trained and obedient dog handled stock.

“I cannot put a value on watching him with his dogs; it is who I am today.”

She left home at 17 to start a career working on the land — much to her parents’ horror.

Back in those days it was a definite handicap being a woman in the sheep farming industry.

“It was easy enough finding employment in the dairy or racing sector, but on a sheep property — nigh on impossible. Virtually all my jobs were the boss realising that I had a very capable team of dogs, and that I possessed stockmanship. This led to permanent work.”

She shepherded for 25 years before concentrating on training people with dogs.

Dogs and dog training have become her life. She wrote for Country-Wide for just over two years about the care and training of farm dogs and now writes similar articles for Young Country magazine and Rural News.

She also runs Teaching People Dog Training days throughout the country travelling with four to six quiet sheep in a horse-float, two to three dogs and a toy poodle called Fifi.

The training days are limited to 35 people so bookings are essential.

She encourages all ages and experience.

“I’ve had people as young as early teens through to a number of people 65-plus.”

People do not take their own dogs.

“I demonstrate with one or two untrained dogs and then with two trained dogs. I take people through all the stages from puppy to trained dog and encourage questions.”

She has run 28 Teaching People Dog Training days altogether and says they were all huge successes.

The Gisborne training days run from 9am to 4pm at Matawai on September 18 — contact Adriana (06) 862 1553) for details — and at Wairoa on September 20 —contact Kirby (06) 837 5627). The training includes a booklet that covers everything people have seen in the day.

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Talking Dogs: Be a dog's best friend - MiamiHerald.com

One of the simplest, most successful means to teach a dog to be well-behaved and to maintain a great relationship is to always, always be the "good guy." Before any formal, positive training begins, your dog should understand that everything he enjoys in life is provided by you and that close to you is always the safest place to be. These two uncomplicated concepts become the foundation for a great relationship between dog and human.

For your dog to grasp the first concept, you must be able to recognize what he considers to be the positive perks in his world. Some can easily identify the most obvious - the dog loves to chase the ball, enjoys a good scratching behind the ears and is clearly pleased when we put down the food bowl. Not so obvious may include going in or out a door, having access to the room you are in and taking a walk around the block. The more things you can identify as positives in the dog's eyes, the more you have to work with. In addition, effort should be put into teaching the young dog to enjoy things that he may not, without exposure, find rewarding on his own. For example, taking the time to teach a dog to fetch a ball, catch a Frisbee, tug on a toy or enjoy a playful game of "I'm gonna getcha!" gives the owner a larger variety of reward options when higher levels of training begin.

Gaining and maintaining easy control begins with providing your dog with the perks he enjoys only when his behavior is that which you like and wish to encourage. Long before formal training begins, you can simply choose to open a door for your dog to go in or out of when he keeps all four paws on the floor, is quiet and is patient. The same goes for putting down the food bowl. As you repeat this process, a pattern begins to emerge, which the dog grasps quickly - things he wants and enjoys in life are given to him when he is calm, silent and still.

The second concept is paramount in having a great relationship with the dog: You must be trustworthy, and safe to be around. It is impossible to maintain this kind of relationship if you are a punisher. Physical corrections - spanking, muzzle grabs, collar or scruff shakes, leash pops, alpha rolls, etc., define the human as a person to be wary of, and being close to that person may result in correction. This doesn't mean, of course, that the dog will never get close to the human again; dogs are eternal optimists, after all. But it does break down the trust, and the perceptive dog may choose to move away from the human when the person's behavior is disturbing. In addition to losing trust, this puts the human at a huge disadvantage when the dog is off leash.

Dog owners seem to be under the impression that if the dog does something "wrong," or doesn't obey a command, that it must be punished. The modern dog trainer, relying on scientific studies and extensive research into modifying behavior in any animal species, knows that it is far more effective to simply withhold something the dog favors.

Lisa Moore's pet-behavior column appears once a month on the Weekly Pet Page. Write to her in care of LifeStyles, The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352.

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Should I be allowed to bring my dog to work? - Telegraph.co.uk

When asked recently about herbal flea collars, you ended up suggesting conventional flea treatment. Like many people I know, I despise modern medicine. I love my cats and I don’t want to pollute their bodies with chemicals. How can I have their needs addressed with only natural products? Are there vets who specialise in herbal treatments?

MM, Gloucestershire

You’ll be pleased to learn that there’s a growing body of vets who use herbal medicines to treat their patients – both for pets and for farm animals.

If you visit the website of the British Association of Veterinary Herbalists (www.herbalvets.org.uk), you’ll find nationwide listings of vets with a particular interest in this area.

We have two terriers, a father aged nine years and his three-year-old daughter. When left at home, on our return they’ve started to bark, rising into a crescendo of howling. The noise is unbearable! They’ve also begun to do this when visitors arrive. They get plenty of long walks so it’s not boredom. How can we stop them from doing this?

AS by email

Your dogs have learnt to react to these exciting situations by barking. You now have to take time to teach them to respond in a calmer way.

Do lots of practice of going out very briefly, and then coming back in and getting the dogs to sit for a treat. Do this over and over again, going away for such a short period that they don’t have a chance to get worked up enough to bark. Then gradually lengthen the time that you are away.

The idea is that they will learn that the response that gets them the most reward is to sit quietly when you get back. You should do the same type of training with them to change their reaction to visitors; get someone to pretend to be a visitor, and as they arrive, get the dogs to sit down quietly in front of you, in exchange for treats. The same “visitor” should come and go multiple times so that the dogs gradually learn the new behaviour.

We have a 13-year-old Border terrier who is fit and has three walks a day. She can comfortably manage two or three miles but gets very tired on a longer walk. She goes everywhere with us and as we are keen walkers I was wondering whether I could get a comfortable rucksack to put her in to manage a longer walk. Any ideas?

TM, Norfolk

A wide range of unusual dog carriers is available at www.canineconcepts.co.ukwww.canineconcepts.co.uk. There’s a selection of dog rucksacks for small dogs such as Border terriers, from a basic version for less than £20 to a more deluxe version, with more rigid support, padding and pockets, for over £40.

You’ll need to introduce the concept gradually to her, rewarding her for staying calm and relaxed. Many dogs soon learn to love being carried on their owners’ backs. The website also sells push-along pet strollers, bicycle baskets designed for small dogs, and dog trailers for cycling, walking or jogging with your dog in tow.

Cowpox: an old virus that still causes problems

SB from Shropshire has asked me to warn readers about the cowpox virus. Her 13-year-old cat is a prolific hunter and he picked up the infection during the summer. It was not diagnosed immediately; it was only as the sore, bald areas grew worse that the correct diagnosis was made.

Cowpox is an ancient disease that has never been fully eradicated, and it carries the risk of in-contact humans picking up a nasty infection. Cats catch it from rodents.

If your mouse-catching cat develops an odd skin problem, you may wish to remind your vet about this rare but worrying viral skin disease.

Read Pete’s regular animal themed blog at hereSend pet problems to pete.wedderburn@telegraph.co.uk. We regret that he cannot answer all letters personally. All sick animals should, of course, be taken to a vet

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Cardinal Chirp: American Pit Bull Terrier: The Quest to Save a Breed - my.hsj.org

 

Featured photo is Star from Happy Pit Bull, http://www.happypitbull.com/ - Sunday, October 16, 2011 By Hannah GearhartAdvertising

If you were to walk down the toy aisle in a store, what would you see? On the far end of a shelf, a set of plush dogs would sit, their large, bright eyes pleading. Sifting through the pile, you would find tiny Chihuahuas, fluffy Pomeranians, lovable Beagles, and the “gentle giants” – German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, and Golden Retrievers. If you stopped to really think about it, what wouldn’t you find? Would you find the happy pit bull with its tongue sticking out of its mouth in an eager greeting? Of course you wouldn’t, but have you ever stopped to wonder why one of the world’s best breeds has no plush representation?

The term “pit bull” is only relative – there is no such breed as a pit bull. Formally, the term refers to the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Bull Terrier, but it may also extend to the American Bull Dog and Bull Terrier. Informally, however, anything from a Boxer to a Rottweiler may be labeled a pit bull, as very few people can actually make distinctions between what is a pit and what is not. Although it may not seem like a big deal, mislabeling these breeds can actually be fatal – especially for real pit bulls.

Many people know pit bulls as those dogs in the news that are at the center of dog-fighting rings or are always attacking weak, defenseless children. However, a vast majority of people do not know – or care not to acknowledge – much more about the breeds that encompass pit bull status. For instance, it is a little-known fact that the American Pit Bull Terrier was the nation’s mascot during World Wars I and II, and one of the most famous of military dogs, Sergeant Stubby, was a Bull Terrier mix that singlehandedly apprehended a German spy and warned his unit of impending poison gas and artillery attacks. Additionally, many pit bull breeds have been used as police, therapy, search and rescue, service, and companion dogs for years. Pit bull breeds have also been media stars, including Petey from The Little Rascals and Hercules from the upcoming Animal Planet movie Santa’s Dog.

Despite all these examples of positive pit bulls, however, there still remains an unfounded and unnecessary prejudice against these breeds. Today, very few people will even consider adopting a pit bull breed, and these animals are left to die alone in shelters. In fact, the negative pit bull image has spread so much that even the upstanding members of the pit bull community are finding it hard just to survive. All across our country, states and communities are passing breed-specific legislation – more often than not aimed only at pit bulls – which outlaw the ownership of “pit bull-type dogs.” Here in our own state of Ohio, the Ohio Revised Code 955 states that all vicious dogs – defined as those who have previously attacked and seriously injured another dog or person, or those belonging to any pit bull breed – “must be confined on the owner's property by means of a locked fenced yard, a locked dog pen that has a top, or some other locked enclosure that has a top,” and owners must have at least $100,000 in liability insurance coverage. In addition to this, many cities, from Cincinnati to Mansfield, ban pit bulls altogether, while other cities limit the number of pit bulls a person or rescue can own.

If pit bulls make such wonderful dogs, then why do so many fear them, and why have they been banned in so many places? Perhaps the greatest reason that pit bulls have such a fearsome reputation is the fact that so many misconceptions about them exist. It is commonplace for one to list pit bulls’ “locking jaws” as a reason why they are dangerous. However, functionally, there is absolutely no existing difference between the jaws of a pit bull and the jaws of any other dog breed. In fact, studies by Dr. Brady Barr have shown that not only do pit bulls not have functionally unique jaws, but they also lack a greater jaw pressure than other dogs; under the studies, American Pit Bull Terriers were found to have a lower pressure per square inch (PSI) than both German Shepherds and Rottweilers.

In case this does not suffice to show that pit bull breeds are not any more vicious or powerful than any other dog breed, statistics compiled by the American Temperament Test Society, Inc. further show the volatility potential in any breed. The statistics, which can be found at http://www.atts.org/, are determined through tests in several categories: Behavior Toward Strangers; Reaction to Auditory, Visual, or Tactile Stimuli; and Self Protective or Aggressive Behaviors. According to the website, the test “focuses on and measures different aspects of temperament such as stability, shyness, aggressiveness, and friendliness as well as the dog’s instinct for protectiveness towards its handler and/or self-preservation in the face of a threat,” and any given dog will fail the test if he or she exhibits unprovoked aggression, panic without recovery, strong avoidance, or any combination of the three. With this said, it should be noted that the average passing rate of all 30,876 dogs tested between 2010 and 2011 was 83%. Pit bull breeds, however, far outshined this mark, with APBTs receiving an 86.4% and Staffordshire Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers earning 89.7% and 84.2%, respectively. Referring back to our example of dogs featured in plush toys, the APBT surpasses each one on the test, with the exception of Labrador Retrievers, who scored 92.4%. Although some of these breeds’ scores are arguably comparable, it should be noted that APBTs did, indeed, outscore German Shepherds (84.4%), Beagles (80.6%), Golden Retrievers (84.9%), Chihuahuas (71.1%), and Pomeranians (75.8%). Other notable breeds underscoring pits were some of America’s favorite breeds – Collies (79.9%), Yorkshire Terriers (82.5%), Portuguese Water Dogs (77.8%), Saint Bernards (83.7%), and Shetland Sheepdogs (68.1%) – creating a surprising feat for the notoriously “aggressive” pit bull breeds.

In light of all this evidence in favor of the companionability of pit bulls, there are still other issues with which we must deal in order to break through the typical pit bull stereotype. Firstly, we must look to the owners of pit bulls, many of which have created and continue to create the image of the pit bull as unruly, savage, and volatile. Pit bulls, like any other dog, look to their owners for guidance; if sufficient guidance is not provided, then, obviously, these dogs will not be functional members of society. Innately, pits bulls are highly intelligent dogs that will train easily, but they are also playful, energetic, and strong. If proper outlets are not provided for the dogs, or if they are not trained adequately, they, just as in the case of any other poorly trained or inadequately supervised dog, will find their own outlets. For this reason alone, it is very important that owners of pit bulls – as well as owners of any other dog breed – ensure that they give their dogs the proper attention and training that they deserve, lest pit bulls further be labeled with undesirable characteristics.

Secondly, although pit bulls were bred as fighting dogs, it should be noted that they are not generally aggressive towards humans unless they were trained as such or were, at some time in their life, abused by humans. However, many pit bulls will show some level of aggression toward other dogs, especially if they are either unneutered or untrained. As stated by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (http://www.aspca.org/), aggression can occur on several levels, and one should not assume that there are only two options – either the dog shows dog aggression, or it does not. In reality, there are several different levels of aggression that should be considered; as defined by the ASPCA, these levels are as follows: Not dog aggressive at all; Tolerant (the dog usually shows no dog aggression, except in extreme circumstances); Minor Intolerance (the dog will not show aggression toward most other dogs, but it may in some cases be intolerant); Intolerant (the dog will not get along with most dogs, but there may be some exceptions, such as dogs with which they were raised); and Very Aggressive (the dog does not get along with most or all other dogs). As provided by the ASPCA, it is very important that owners understand how tolerant their dog is of others so that they can “manage their dog appropriately when around other animals.” Perhaps the best advice to combat the issue of intolerance, though, is provided by Pit Bull Rescue Central (http://www.pbrc.net/), who urges, “Never trust a dog not to fight. Dogs of any breed can exhibit intolerance toward other dogs.” While it is certainly true that any breed can be inclined to fighting, we should always remember that it is not commonly believed that any breed will fight; thus, it is very important for owners of pit bulls to prevent their dog from fighting – after all, even if a pit bull is only responding to an attack by another dog, it will be viewed as the guilty party.

Our previous two topics, the misconceptions of pit bulls and poor ownership, combine to give source to the third, and potentially most dangerous, reason why pit bulls receive a bad reputation: media coverage. If you were to do a news search for the term “pit bull” you would find an overwhelming amount of news stories detailing the horror stories where people – often children – were “mauled” by pit bulls or where pit bulls are menacing neighborhoods. However, it would take pages of sifting to find the stories of pit bull heroes who have saved their owners or neighborhood children, and rarely ever would you find the stories of owners who have been sentenced for abusing their pit bulls. In essence, these last two cases are equally as likely in theory, so what causes the huge discrepancy in what is and what isn’t reported? The simple answer is that reporters want to create a piece that people will want to read and respond to – and, in this case, reporting pit bull attacks definitely generates a lot of attention for them. Although many may claim that they just wish to educate the public, they themselves are not very educated on pit bull breeds, as they simply label all of these dogs as “pit bulls.” If you were to change your news search to the term “Staffordshire Bull Terrier,” you would meet any entirely different sight. At this moment, you would be bombarded with news stories of two current reports – one, of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier who was found dead in a suitcase, and the other, where a Staffordshire Bull Terrier was tied up and spray painted. As you’ll note, these terms did not show up under your search for “pit bull,” even though Staffordshire Bull Terriers are a pit bull breed. For several reasons, reporters neglect to label pit bulls by their specific breeds, and one of the most prominent reasons is that by labeling dogs individually, they would alter the statistics of pit bull attacks – there are three universal pit bull breeds, two sometimes pit bull breeds, and dozens of breeds that are often mistakenly categorized as pit bulls; therefore, if one were to break these into their individual components, each breed would have a significantly lower fatality attack rate. Yes, pit bulls do commit a high percentage of fatal attacks, but so would Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Golden Retrievers, and Labradors if we lumped them into a group with dozens of other breeds.

There is a more concrete reason why reporters do not state a specific breed, however – oftentimes, they simply do not know if the dog is a pit bull. As was mentioned above, there are dozens of breeds of dogs that we classify as pit bulls that are only mildly – if at all – related to the three primary pit bull breeds. So often, Rottweilers, Boxers, Bull Mastiffs, Presa Canarios, and countless other dogs are mistaken for pits when they absolutely aren’t. The fact is, just as humans often have trouble distinguishing the characteristics of people they have met only once or twice, they often lack the ability to choose an APBT from a Boxer. Perhaps the best example of this is the “Find the Pit Bull” online quiz hosted on Understand-a-Bull’s website (http://www.understand-a-bull.com/Findthebull/findpitbull_v3.html), which asks players to distinguish between twenty-six different breeds to find the one true APBT. Admittedly, most of us can’t find the ABPT for several tries, so how can we trust ourselves to indentify a dog we glimpsed in the fleeting of a few seconds as we watched in hysterics as someone we cared about was being attacked? In reality, we as humans are not the best judges and we have been incredibly biased by media portrayals of pit bulls, and these misinterpretations can lead to great breeds being destroyed.

As can be seen, there are very basic parts of our beliefs about pit bulls that, when it comes to the facts, just don’t add up properly. However, there is one last point that we’ve yet to cover – how we, as pit bull owners, reporters, and people in general, can help to combat the myths against pit bulls. To begin with pit bull owners, there is a great quote by Joe Stahlkuppe that sums up the sentiment perfectly – “An insecure person who wants only an aggressive dog to bolster some personal human inadequacy should never become an owner of one of these dogs. An uncaring or negligent person should not buy an AmStaff or an APBT (or any other dog for that matter).” If you own a pit bull, make sure that they are positive representations of what these great breeds can be, and ensure that they have proper attention and training.

The most basic part of reporting should help the media ensure that they do not unnecessarily contribute to the negative portrayal of these breeds – get the facts straight. Do not automatically assume that any dog attack is the result of pit bulls, and do not take someone’s word for it that the attacker was a pit bull, unless they have adequate proof. Most importantly, report both positive and negative pit bull stories – every breed has its positive qualities, and pit bull breeds should not be an exception in the media.

Finally, for the general public, leave your minds open, and judge each dog as an individual rather than solely based on its breed. Each and every breed, from the Chihuahua to the Golden Retriever to the American Pit Bull Terrier, has the potential to be vicious, but with adequate training, dogs of any breed can become the most loyal, lovely animals anyone has ever seen. If in the position to report an attack, be absolutely sure of a dog’s breed before you classify it as a “pit bull” – or any other breed, for that matter. Lastly, if you take only one thing away from all of this information, let it be a sense of responsibility that we each have to the pit bull – that we ensure that these “bully breeds” are not forgotten and left to dog fighters, animal abusers, and the ignorant among policy makers who would destroy the breeds in a heartbeat; without us, these breeds would be left to suffer at their hands, and the term “pit bull” would no longer be just relative – it would be obsolete.

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Britain desperately needs to tackle its dog control problems - The Guardian

Merseyside police seized this pitbull terrier, trained for fighting, after an attack on a five-year-old child. Photograph: Merseyside Police/PA

Dangerous dogs are increasingly linked to worrying and persistent trends in antisocial behaviour, and so it's no surprise that so many of us up and down the country are concerned about the problem. Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, together with the RSPCA and Blue Cross have called for an urgent and overdue review of the existing failing dog legislation. Maybe, just maybe, with the recent appointment of Lord Taylor of Holbeach as the new government minister there could be a glimmer of hope that we will see some effective action.

Lord Taylor has promised to make any future legislation effective and enforceable in tackling the dangerous dogs issues that are so concerning us all. But as the problems around irresponsible dog ownership, stray and dangerous dogs intensify, and budgets get tight or, in the case of some local authorities disappear altogether, it may not be long before there is another serious dog attack on a member of the public, or even a young child.

This is not scaremongering. It is a sad but inescapable fact that a minority of people still continue to treat dogs irresponsibly, use them for the wrong things and care only about their personal status in their community or peer group. Battersea is on the frontline dealing with the repercussions of dog issues, as on average 17 stray, abandoned, abused, or dangerous dogs come through our doors every day.

We are the first to pick up the pieces for these dogs, but the pressures on us, as well as the police and local authorities, are mounting. For more than 150 years we have stood by our founding mission to aim never to turn away a dog or cat in need of our help. But as the stray and dangerous dog problem gets worse, our work becomes harder and harder.

What many people may not realise is Battersea takes in every type of dog, and not just those that are easy to rehome. So inevitably more and more of the dogs coming into the charity's rehoming centres have been so badly abused, or trained to be a dangerous "weapon" that it's too late to help them. Some of these dogs can't possibly be safely rehomed, and sadly we have to put them to sleep. At least most people recognise that the harsh reality is this is the only responsible option.

This is predominantly an urban problem and, like us, many of our local authority partners are struggling to cope with the growing stray and dangerous dogs problem. They are legally bound to accept stray dogs off the street when a dog is first spotted or brought to them but severe budget cuts mean they are having to put to sleep perfectly friendly and healthy stray dogs, before they ever reach rescue centres such as Battersea. And more and more strays remain on the street, presenting a potential risk to the public. Battersea is working with local authorities to help find solutions. We're encouraging them to share their kennelling costs with neighbouring local boroughs, but there is only so much we can do.

It would be simplistic to say these problems will go away if only the government would put its hand in its pocket and support inner city local authorities. But Lord Taylor must now take the lead and develop a national strategy to tackle dog control problems. If stray dog services were given a higher priority, we wouldn't have as many of the dog problems we see on our streets today.

New legislation is a must. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who would disagree on that. And so animal charities such as Battersea will continue to argue that the existing dog laws need to be urgently updated and consolidated into a single effective piece of legislation to improve public safety and protect animal welfare so there are fewer dangerous dogs that have to be put to sleep.

We cannot afford to have a repeat of the kneejerk policymaking on dog control that happened 20 years ago, and Lord Taylor himself knows the government must get it right this time. We must deal with these problems now before we face another tragedy.

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